Red River
County Courthouse

The
Red River County Courthouseby Bob Bowman

"In Red River
County, one of East Texas' oldest and northernmost counties, the courthouse
at Clarksville is undergoing a
renovation deserving of its history. And as a part of the renovation,
the courthouse clock, nicknamed Old Red, is scheduled to be rebuilt.

Built in 1885, the courthouse boasts turrets and buttresses of mellow
yellow stone cut from a quarry near Honey
Grove. Because its architecture is part Victorian, part Gothic,
and part Italian Renaissance, someone once described it as Late 19th
Century Debatable. The courthouse clock ticked from 2:30 p.m. on May
27, 1885, until it developed troubles and was electrified in 1961.
This saved the janitor of 30 minutes of hard winding once a week,
but four months later, at 4:35 a.m. on a June morning, Old Red started
striking and struck her bells 120 time before someone pulled the plug.

A town wag described it as the night that got later than it ever has
been." (From "All Things Historical" Restoring
Two Old Reds )

Red River County
Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT